Recent Posts & Articles

Coaching as a Retention Strategy Many higher education leaders are familiar with Tinto’s theories on student departure and student integration and Astin’s theory of student involvement. Fewer are familiar with Seidman’s retention formula. Even fewer apply the primary...

Enrollment Management covers the broad operational areas that affect the total numbers of enrolled students and graduates. Admissions and student retention, marketing and sales, and financial aid are all areas addressed under the umbrella of Enrollment Management....

Getting new students is an expensive proposition for most colleges—not keeping the students we admit is a costly mistake we simply cannot afford to make. It is often said that student retention is everyone’s job, but unless someone is made accountable for student...

First-time college students often have a number of obstacles to overcome to be able to focus on their academics and stay in school. We have seen many schools redesign their student services programs over the years, moving from advising to counseling to mentoring and...

Many colleges and universities are experiencing a decline in enrollment. Often, we look to external causes, shrug, and make spending cuts to compensate for the lost revenue without taking the time to analyze the problem with the specific intention of identifying any...

The decision by students not to persist in their academic pursuit—is a complex phenomenon. College administrators and researchers have been relentless in their quest to understand why students who begin attending colleges drop out at notably high rates. According to...

College Matters specializes in turnaround operations combining the best practices learned from years of successful higher education leadership with executive coaching to help you and your team succeed at increasing enrollment, retention, and financial results....

Every accrediting body uses a site visit to verify the institution's self-study report. Site visits can be a tense time for everyone on campus whether or not they have experienced accreditation visits before. Knowing exactly what to expect and making sure everyone on...

A schools’ ability to increase institutional effectiveness rests in its ability to create an institutional culture in which planning, reflective practice, and self-improvement are evident. The role of organizational development is to provide an intentional opportunity...

While a strategic management model encourages innovative thinking and entrepreneurial execution, strategic planning still provides the foundation for determining the future direction of our institutions. The local management team will develop a comprehensive,...

Changing student demographics, increased competition, advances in technology and the globalization of higher education is creating a rapidly changing world for higher education—a world where traditional management approaches will no longer suffice. Strategic...

The self-study process is at the very heart of the accreditation process. It is important that as many campus constituencies as possible be involved in the process AND that the resulting report is a clear and accurate representation of the institution in the context...

Every accrediting body addresses the question of assessing institutional effectiveness—essentially, the question of how the institution knows how well it is doing what it does. This critical element of effective school management centers on the process of documented...

Intentional team building accelerates the group process and provides quick results in changing a school’s management team from individual departmental leaders to the kind of collaborative cross-functional teams that are the heart of effective strategic management....

Keeping students engaged from the moment they become leads will ultimately increase graduation rates. How do you keep graduation in the front of your students’ minds to provide the most influence in student retention? How you’ll find your leads is an important part of...